The bolded letters in each fictional rock name can be organized into a sequence of element symbols. The number of element symbols is shown to the right of each rock name. For instance, SEASONAL JASPERS has the letters SEONASPS bolded, and 6 boxes to its right. This clues the six elemental symbols, Se O N As P S.
After translating the rock names into sequences of elemental symbols, you need to trace them on the periodic table. The element sequences and traced letters are given below.
Se O N As P S A
Si Sn Te Se Ge b
N P S O N O
Fe Os Ir Co U
Al In Te L
S Br Te S D
Al P N B Ga Ge e
Be Li K r
S Te In Al U
In Ge Al C S
Se Ge C O S Si e
Ar S Te r
Ba Cs Fr K Ca Ra A
Pt Ni Tl Ga N
Se I Po Se D
Ge C O r
C Si S O C O
Bi P Cl At Br As A
C N S As Ge C D
Te S Cl r
C Ge Se S O U
Ir Co Au Cu N
Pa Pr U Nd N
Ge Se S Al In Te e
Ac Sc Ti r
P Cl F N As Se e
In Al Te S N
Re Mo Cr Fe Ru Mo e
U Nd Pa Ce Th m
B Si N Si Ge Y
The clue phrase is “A boulder user and roadrunner enemy”, which is the COYOTE.
Answer: COYOTE #
(other spellings, like WILE E. or WILE E. COYOTE would prompt people to submit COYOTE as the correct answer)
Solving the puzzle also gives you a fun tidbit of EFF-related trivia:
Did you know there are millions of Let’s Encrypt’s Boulder users? In fact, EFF’s Certbot and Let’s Encrypt’s Boulder both implement different parts of ACME.